Safety Group Asks Automakers To Provide Back-seat Harnesses

A national safety group co-founded by a West Palm Beach lawyer called on Thursday for all car manufacturers and dealers to provide rear-seat shoulder harness kits for the 140 million cars on the road.

More than 1,000 people a year -- mostly children -- are killed by injuries they receive in accidents while wearing only rear seat lap belts, said Edward Ricci, a personal injury lawyer.

``I`m sick and tired of people getting injured when they use a safety device,`` Ricci said. ``There have been cases here in South Florida where children have been killed or paralyzed.``

The Institute for Injury Reduction, a non-profit group formed two years ago by Ricci and others, on Thursday asked the Department of Transportation to take action to equip all cars with back-seat shoulder harnesses.

All new cars are required to be equipped with rear-seat shoulder harnesses under a rule made last year by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

But the Institute for Injury Reduction estimates it will be 15 years before all 140 million cars without the harnesses will be off the road.

Using only lap belts puts the entire force of a frontal or head-on impact around the abdomen of children and small adults and allows the head and shoulders to fling forward, Ricci said.

The injuries caused by such an impact can include paraplegia and massive trauma to the abdominal organs and head, said Benjamin Kelley, president of the institute.

Ricci said the institute surveyed car dealers around the country two weeks ago to determined how many would supply a kit to install the rear harnesses.

``Dealers say there is no such thing, or that there will be an eight-week wait,`` Ricci said. ``And the costs ranged from $200 to $500.`` He said the kits cost less than $50 to manufacture.

Ricci said children who use lap belts alone are more likely to be injured than those without a belt.